Polycarbonate resins are polymers obtained by combining aromatic or aliphatic dioxy compounds by means of a carbonate. Out of these, a polycarbonate resin obtained from 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (commonly called “bisphenol A”) (may be referred to as “PC-A” hereinafter) is used in many fields because it has high transparency and heat resistance and excellent mechanical properties such as impact resistance.
Polycarbonate resins are generally manufactured from raw materials obtained from oil resources. The depletion of oil resources is now apprehended, and the implementation of a polycarbonate resin by using biogenic matter such as plants is desired. A polycarbonate resin obtained from an ether diol raw material which can be manufactured from sugar is now under study.
For example, an ether diol represented by the following formula (a) is easily formed from sugar or starch.
This ether diol has three known stereoisomers. They are 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-D-sorbitol (to be referred to as “isosorbide” hereinafter in this text) represented by the following formula (b), 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-D-mannitol (to be referred to as “isomannide” hereinafter in this text) represented by the following formula (c), and 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-L-iditol (to be referred to as “isoidide” hereinafter in this text) represented by the following formula (d).

Isosorbide, isomannide and isoidide are obtained from D-glucose, D-mannose and L-idose, respectively. For example, isosorbide can be obtained by hydrogenating D-glucose and dehydrating it with an acid catalyst.
Out of the above ether diols, the introduction of mainly isosorbide as a monomer into a polycarbonate has been studied. Particularly, a homopolycarbonate of isosorbide is described in patent documents 1 and 2 and non-patent documents 1 and 2.
Patent document 1 proposes a homopolycarbonate resin having a melting point of 203° C. which is obtained by a melt transesterification process. Non-patent document 1 proposes a homopolycarbonate resin having a glass transition temperature of 166° C. which is obtained by the melt transesterification process using zinc acetate as a catalyst. However, this polycarbonate resin is not satisfactory in terms of heat stability because it has a thermal decomposition temperature (5% weight loss temperature) of 283° C. Non-patent document 2 proposes a process of manufacturing a homopolycarbonate resin from a bischloroformate of isosorbide by interfacial polymerization. However, this polycarbonate resin is unsatisfactory in terms of heat resistance because it has a glass transition temperature of 144° C. Patent document 2 proposes a polycarbonate resin having a glass transition temperature of 170° C. or higher.
In order to use these polycarbonate resins derived from biogenic matter as industrial materials, studies must be made to (1) improve the heat resistance and heat stability of the resin, (2) improve the moldability of the resin, and (3) suppress coloration (yellowing) and opacification caused by molding.    (patent document 1) GB A 1079686    (patent document 2) WO2007/013463    (non-patent document 1)“Journal of Applied Polymer Science”, 2002, vol. 86, p. 872-880    (non-patent document 2) “Macromolecules”, 1996, vol. 29, p. 8077-8082